Giving Voice To Stories From Around the World

Peter K. Jain

Peter K. Jain is a native of Arcata, California and graduate of Humboldt State University. For twenty-nine years, he gratefully taught music at South Bay and Pine Hill Elementary Schools, where everyone just calls him “Jambo.”

Jain has written a prose poetry book with Humboldt county in its spotlight, Let the Dance Begin, Greetings From Humboldt (first published by Wild Earth Press in 2014), but perhaps locally, he’s best known for his children’s book, Can Emu Really Sing Jambo? which served both as a fundraiser for his elementary school’s arts and music programs and as the grande finale for his teaching career. In June of 2018, at the end of twenty-nine years serving as the music teacher of Pine Hill and South Bay Elementary Schools, Jain retired. In the last three decades, he has helped countless students and their families foster the love of music: in the classroom, in bi-annual school music concerts, and at venues such as College of the Redwoods, the County Music Festival, and the Rhododendron Festival. He was honored with the 2018 Humboldt County Office of Education’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

Outside of teaching music to children, one of his favorite activities is singing with animals, especially emus and unicorns.